Communication and Global Technologies explores the way communication has changed culture. Naturally, the way people use communication technology plays a significant role in determining how these changes take place. This first assessment allows you to reflect on your communication and how this has been influenced through use of technologies over your lifetime. The assessment also enables you to develop ideas for assessment two.

Task Description

This assessment has two parts.

For part one of this assessment, you should choose one of the topics from the first four weeks of the Unit content and write a short (500 word) piece reflecting how communication has been aided by the development of different technologies. What you choose to write about is up to you, but you will need to stipulate the title or question you are addressing as the heading for your document.       

Examples might include:

1. Discussing how you have used non-verbal communication through and with technologies e.g. sending/receiving haptic feedback through a digital device, or used visual methods to communicate messages to others using ink, paint, lighting, etching, graffiti or other forms of visual expression (Week 1 Topic). 
2. Reflecting on how sound technologies like amplifiers (microphones, speakers) or voice recognition software alter the tonality of speech, or debating the pros and cons of oral storytelling compared to written accounts (Week 2 Topic).  
3. Examining how and why the written word has been abbreviated, abridged and transformed through technology use e.g. text messaging, emojis, screen readers (Week 3 Topic)
4. Considering the impact of printing technologies on society e.g. how the printing press affected literacy levels, how the facsimile or 3D printing changed business practice

The aim of this task is to get you to reflect on the Unit content so far and to think about how communication has evolved in conjunction with technological innovation. This reflective piece will enable you to develop part two of the task, which is to:

• Identify an appropriate person to interview from a different generation or cultural background, to understand how communication and technology have changed in their lifetime and/or may have influenced their lives
• Develop a broad statement or overarching question that will be used to guide development of interview questions for Assessment 2 (i.e. what is it you want to explore and find the answer to?)
• State the location/place where the interview will be conducted
• Draft four or five interview questions (it doesn't matter if these change in Assessment 2, this is just to get you thinking critically about what you want to find out) 
• A short rationale explaining why you have chosen that person to interview (what perspective/insight/experience do you think they can bring to the interview?)  

Draw on your reflective piece from part one to inform the focus of your interview for part two. For example, you can use your own insights and reflections to find out how someone else feels about the same topic.    

Submission guidelines
The interview planning task does not require references, however, the reflection piece should reference materials and sources cited from both Unit content and from independent research. When including material or ideas from other sources, the APA 7 referencing guide should always be used. 

Your response should be formatted as a word or pdf document. For part one you can devise your own subheadings where appropriate but this has a short word count so you will need to write succinctly. The use of dot point formatting is acceptable for the interview planning task.

Use of AI Generative tools

Gen AI tools can be used to generate ideas and general structures for this assessment and for content editing. Any use of these tools must be adequately referenced (see the Moodle site for more guidance on referencing use of AI tools).

A full marking criteria will be provided on Moodle, however you will be assessed based on your attention to completion of requirements of task, presentation & structure, and quality of reflection.

This assessment has a practical focus and gives you the opportunity to interview a person about their experience with communication technologies. 

In this assessment you will plan, conduct and record a short interview with someone from another generation or cultural background and present your findings using a medium of your choice to show how innovations in communication and technology have influenced the lives of others. You should choose one of the topics from Weeks 5 - 8 to base your interview around. Some themes you might want to consider include:

• How has currency/transaction systems/ banking changed in the participant's lifetime and what impact have those changes had on how and what they spend? What are the pros and cons of digital currency? How has global trade and the production and exchange of goods internationally changed consumption patterns? (Week 5)     
• What are the benefits and disadvantages of digital photography? How has photographic technology changed in the participant's lifetime and what impact have these changes had (e.g. work practices, personally)? What is the cultural value of a family portrait photo? (Week 6)  
• What are the benefits/disadvantages of curating audio content? What impact did radio have on participants' lives? How does the experience of listening to a radio compare to listening later on an app? What are the cultural, financial or social issues related to subscription music streaming platforms such as Spotify or Amazon Music? (Week 7)
• How has telephone mobility changed in the participant's lifetime and what impact has it had? Has convergent technology enhanced or hindered communication (being able to make video calls, send text messages, make phone calls and send emails from a single device)? Do people communicate differently when using the phone compared to video call? How has communication been affected in the workplace with the introduction of video conferencing programs? (Week 8)

Once you have established the broad theme or topic you are interested in exploring you need to create ‘an interview guide’: a list of planned interview questions you will ask your participant. At this point, you should think about whether the topic you are investigating is suitable for the chosen participant or whether you need to find someone else more suitable.

You will also need to organise your interview, including agreeing on a set time and place with your interviewee, printing the information and consent forms for your interviewee to sign (see the Moodle site for more information on this process).  

Presentation Format

Once you have completed your interview, you need to produce a 1500-word (or equivalent) summary and reflection of your findings and the things you’ve learnt about changes in communication and technology presented in a media format of your choosing. Options include a magazine article, short story, Powerpoint presentation or another slide format (Prezi, Canva), narrated audio (in the style of a podcast or radio broadcast) or an essay style written report. If recording your reflection, you should produce a script to ensure the word count is met which can be uploaded to Moodle. Similarly, you can include scripted content in the Notes section of a PPT or uploaded separately with reference to relevant slides.        

You also need to upload or include the following items as appendices in your presentation: 

1.    A copy of the Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form signed by your interviewee
2.    Your interview guide
3.    A link to the recorded interview, preferably uploaded to OneDrive, with a link placed in your presentation or script notes.

Use of Generative AI

As this assessment involves collecting original content from a participant, you should use Generative AI only to generate ideas and to help edit final written work (where appropriate). Uploading the recorded interview provides evidence of originality.     

A full marking criteria will be provided on Moodle, however you will be assessed based on your attention to completion of requirements of the task, including the quality of writing, suitability of interview questions, quality of the presentation and content.

This third assessment brings together the elements of the earlier two assessments to encourage you to consider the impact that changes in communication technology have on our lives, and on culture more broadly.

Assessment task

In this assessment you will prepare a 2000-word argumentative essay which addresses the following statement:

'Communication technology has really improved our lives'.

You should draw on your knowledge of Unit content, the topics you are most interested in and the findings from Assessment 2 to help you address this statement. You can use excerpts or paraphrase interview data, in addition to references from scholars and credible, online sources to analyse and discuss the changing use and impact of communication technology.  Rather than repeating what has already been said in Assessment 2, you should look at the deeper implications of technology use on communication for participants and society, drawing on relevant ideas and concepts related to communication and culture.

Additional information

Interview material that is used in this essay should be referenced as ‘Personal Communication’ (see the APA 7 referencing guide for guidance). Your essay should also reference material such as unit readings and your own research. At least 10 scholarly sources are expected.   

Resources to support essay development and writing is available on the Moodle site.  

Submission Instructions
This assessment should be submitted to Moodle in Word or PDF format. Additional instructions about submitting your assessment are available on the Moodle Support for Students site, or by asking the unit coordinator.

Use of AI Generative tools

Gen AI tools can be used to generate ideas and general structures for this assessment and for content editing. Any use of these tools must be adequately referenced (see the Moodle site for more guidance on referencing use of AI tools).  

A full marking criteria will be provided on Moodle, however you will be assessed based on your attention to completion of requirements of task, quality of writing, written argument and analysis, research and use of sources to support argument, referencing.